Mulching, covering hybrid roses, and protecting evergreens for winter
are some of the gardening tips for this month.

Some woody perennials -- technically called “subshrubs” -- such as butterfly
bush, lavender, thyme, and heather, can be damaged or killed if you prune
in fall. Leave the stems as is, protect them with mulch over the winter,
and prune in spring.

Mulch perennials, tender shrubs, and newly planted trees with bark,
straw, or pine boughs after the ground has frozen to a depth of 1 to 2
inches. By the time the ground freezes, rodents have usually found a winter
hiding place and will not burrow in the mulch and feast on your plants.

To prevent sunscald and frost cracking on young, thin-barked trees such
as maples, wrap the trunks with tree wrap or paint the south- and southwest-facing
sides of the trunk with white, outdoor latex paint. This will reflect the
warming rays of the sun so the tree bark doesn't heat up on winter days,
only to be suddenly cooled when the sun sets and the temperature plummets.

Once the ground begins to freeze and you have consistent temperatures
in the low 20s (F), it's time to protect modern hybrid roses from winter's
wind and cold. Most old-fashioned or shrub roses shouldn’t need protection.
The simplest method is to mound bark mulch around the base of the rose,
covering the graft union (the swollen part of the stem near the ground).
The mound should be about one foot tall. Wait until spring to cut back
the canes above the mound.

Make sure evergreens have a good deep watering before the ground freezes
because they continue to transpire, albeit slowly, during the winter. Protect
young evergreens from wind damage during winter by wrapping them in burlap
or using wooden protectors. Water these plants whenever the temperatures
warm up in winter and early spring if there's no snow cover to provide
moisture and the ground thaws.

If you have any clay or ceramic pots that you keep outside or in a cold
location during the winter, empty them of soil, which will freeze and expand
and, most likely, crack the pot. This even can happen to plastic pots too.
Keep the soil to use to fill the bottoms of large planters next year. That
way you won't need as much fresh soil.

Other gardening tips for this month include leaving asparagus stalks
to trap snow, cleaning and storing garden tools, stocking up on bird seed,
and storing pesticides where they wont freeze. Visit the National Gardening
Association’s web site (www.garden.org) for more information on gardening
and regional reports.